It’s that time of year again. That is, time for MLB teams to firm up their scouting reports and get ready to do battle in First-Year Player Draft, just as they have done since the inaugural draft in 1965.

The first overall pick is indeed a luxury and every team’s dream but it comes at a price. The Dodgers have never had the first overall selection as that means the team would have had to finish at the bottom of the heap in the previous season’s play.

The highest selection the Dodgers have ever had was the number two pick in 1983 when they drafted right-hander Darren Dreifort immediately following the first overall selection by the Seattle Mariners who nabbed shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

Although never having had the coveted first overall pick, the Dodgers have had two members who belong to that club. Dodger fans remember with fondness the contribution made by the first ever number one selection in 1965. That would be none other than present Dodger broadcaster Rick Monday who was selected by the Kansas City Royals. He is presently in his 25th year as a Dodger announcer.

Dodger fans might be guilty of not remembering quite so well the contributions the other number one pick who wore Dodger Blue but was picked with the first selection by yet another team. Right-hander Tim Belcher was selected first overall in 1983 by the Minnesota Twins. He did not sign with the Twins that year and went to the Athletics as a compensation pick in 1984. After climbing through the A’s system to Triple-A, Belcher was traded to Los Angeles on September 3, 1987, as the “player to be named later” in the Rick Honeycutt transaction. There is a little bit of irony there in that the Dodgers and Belcher went on to defeat Honeycutt and the favored Athletics in the 1988 World Series.

The 2017 Major League Baseball Draft is set to begin on Monday, June 12, at MLB Network’s Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J. The Minnesota Twins earned the first overall selection as a result of winning just 59 games in 2016. The Twins last picked first in 2001 when they used the selection to choose All Star catcher Joe Mauer.

The Dodgers will be spectators for quite a while as a number of top picks evaporate before their eyes while waiting for their opportunity with their 23rd first round selection. To complicate matters a bit further, their bonus pool total – according to Baseball America – is $5,794,200 which is sixth from the bottom. The Twins have the biggest pool at $14,156,800 while the Cardinals have the smallest poll at $2,176,000.

Dodger legend Ron Cey and longtime MLB scout Lon Joyce will represent the Dodgers at the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft in Secaucus, New Jersey.
(Photo credit – Mike Stobe)

Unlike 2016, the Dodgers have no supplemental selections, and pick 62nd in the second round. One expects that Director of Amateur Scouting Billy Gasparino and his team have had some late nights and last-minute changes of heart trying to find the best choice they can make with a later first round selection and with a limited bonus pool.

The drafting philosophy, according to Gasparino, is to take the best player available when you go on the clock.

One wonders how the judgement is made as to whom the best player available may be. Is he a high school player still in his baseball infancy with a high ceiling, a college player closer to MLB, the best athlete, the most versatile player, has baseball bloodlines or has the right disposition to face the daunting challenges ahead? No doubt there are a combination of factors which we might be able to figure out a bit based on the type of players that the current Dodger management seems to value most.

From the outside, it is anybody’s guess who the Dodgers will select in the first round of the draft. Certainly, one of the main considerations will be signability.

From all reports, it appears that the top five selections are pretty much a lock in basically all of the mock drafts, although the order of ranking is still changing. Those five are right-handed pitchers Kyle Wright and Hunter Greene(HS) along with left-handed pitchers Brendan McKay and fast rising MacKenzie Gore (HS). Shortstop Royce Lewis (HS) is the lone position player in the top five although McKay could be drafted as a hard hitting first baseman.

Beyond those five the field is still in a state of flux with players moving up in the pecking order and others moving down. I initially targeted Trevor Rogers from Carlsbad High School in California as a strong possible selection for the Dodgers. The 6’5”/190-pound left-hander has much to offer that would look good in Dodger Blue. However, with an incredible senior season he has elevated himself to the first 15 selections.

Although not evenly split, the first 30 selections in this year’s draft will possibly feature a higher than usual high school contingent. Do the Dodgers go with a prep player or a collegiate? The Dodgers have gone with college players for five of their past seven first-round selections but they have hit prep gold in the past with Corey Seager in 2012 and Clayton Kershaw in 2006. Kershaw was selected with the seventh overall pick which was their highest pick in the past 22 years. They also have established a distinct drafting pattern with Corey Seager being the lone position player selected in the first round by the Dodgers in the past 13 years. The last one before Seager was first baseman James Loney in 2002.

If the Dodgers decide to go with a college arm, it appears that three right-handers might be on their watch list and possibly still be available when they get the call to select: Tanner Houck (Missouri), Alex Lange (LSU) and Griffin Canning (UCLA). Canning would be a lock for the Dodgers but has seen his ranking move in an upward direction as the season progressed and perhaps making him a target for an earlier pick. Houck, who has moved down in the rankings, and Lange most likely will be available when the 23rd selection comes around.

Left-hander Seth Romero (Houston) may be a take-a-chance player as he has had some discipline issues during the season which are now reportedly solved. The Dodgers have had some success in dealing with these situations and Romero may be as close to MLB ready as a reliever as anyone in the draft.

Should the decision be to select a college bat in the first round, the Dodgers may well find that third baseman Jake Burger (Missouri State), shortstop Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) and first baseman Evan White (Kentucky) have their names called a very few selections before the Dodger representative makes his way to the podium.

One would expect that the Dodgers will not attempt to sign a high school pitcher with their first-round selection because of the risk of not being able to lure him away from a university career. If by chance they were to dive into the high school pitching pool, 6’4”/195-pound right-hander Sam Carlson out of Burnsville High School in Minnesota could catch their eye.

The risk of signability does not seem to be as great with a high school hitter so maybe that is the area that will be targeted by the Dodgers in the first round. In fact, it might just be a safe bet. The farm system is quite well stocked so the Dodgers have time to develop a high school position player.

The high school player most closely linked to the Dodgers is outfielder Bubba Thompson from McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, Alabama. Thompson is a two-sport athlete, starring in both football and baseball. He is reputed to be as athletic as any member of the 2017 drafting class and has been likened to Deion Sanders by his high school coach.

Bubba Thompson
(Photo credit – Scott Donaldson)

“Watching both of those guys go from first base to third is a sight to see,” Becker said. “Bubba runs a 6.4/60. His arm strength is above average, and he can hit for power. He’s not a 15 or 20 home run guy, but if he hits it in the gap it is going to be a triple. Deion was the same way.”

We won’t know the answer to the burning question until the Dodgers make their first selection in the 2017 Draft on Monday, June 12.